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What
is the Internet?
Who
exactly is using the Internet?
What
is the WORLD WIDE WEB?
What
are the income levels of online customers?
How
fast is the WORLD WIDE WEB growing?
What
are the benefits of being on the WEB?
How
does the Internet compare to traditional marketing?
How
much does it cost to establish a presence on the Internet?
How
can you get your Web site on all the search engines?
Q.
What is the Internet?
The Internet is a global
system of public and private computer networks. It enables
universities, governments, businesses and consumers to communicate
with computers via modems, phone lines, cable devices, fiber optic,
and satellites. There are over 332+ million
people in more than 190 countries using it.
Q.
Who exactly is using the Internet?
The Massachusetts
Institute of Technology surveyed 4,566 lnternet users and found
72.5 percent were men, 27.5 were women, and the average age was
37.7. The average age of commercial online service subscribers is
39 according to Jupiter Communications®. The Georgia Institute of
Technology surveyed 4,777 WWW users and found that 56 percent are
between 23 and 38 years old, 74 percent are male.
Q.
What is the WORLD WIDE WEB?
A seamlessly
interconnected set of several thousand sites that all share a
common format. The Web, which is growing at 15 percent per month.
It is the hottest frontier on the Internet because it's extremely
powerful, flexible and easy to use. The beauty of the Web lies in
the way documents (which can be sounds, photos or text ) are
directly linked to each other. A presence on the Web is referred
to as a "Home Page or Web site".
Q
. How fast is the WORLD WIDE WEB growing?
Wired® magazine's
Internet Index reports that the World Wide Web grew 2,713 percent
in 1997. It also reports the number of countries connected to the
Internet grew from 137 in 1993 to 190 in 1997.
Q.
What are the benefits of being on the WEB?
1. You
can deliver your marketing message to a worldwide audience of
millions. Everyone with access to the Internet (the current
estimate is over 332+ million people) can see your message at any
time day or night. A potential customer can view your promotional
material from the comfort of their own home or the convenience of
their own office. The Internet can make vast amounts of
information accessible to anyone with a computer. With personal
computers currently outselling televisions -- and 70 percent of
those personal computers being purchased for home use -- you are
tapping into a medium that has endless possibilities.
2.
You
can communicate directly with your clients/customers. Through the
use of e-mail, customers can send requests or receive information
quickly and inexpensively. You can, for instance, provide
information on special sales, last minute promotions or upcoming
events to millions of people all over the world without print or
postage costs. By the same token, your customers can send you
requests for promotional material or provide you with valuable
feedback.
3.
Create
a new channel for sales. New and secure encryption software now
allows you to sell products and services directly over the
Internet. This new technology allows customers to place orders by
credit card without the fear of having their card numbers stolen.
4.
Position yourself for the future and stay ahead of the
competition. In the near future, almost every business will be
online because this technology will continue to improve and
expand. You don't want to be left behind. The key is to stay ahead
of your competition by using this technology to your
advantage. As of March 1998, there were over 40,000,000 Web sites
of which 27,000,000 were commercial.
5.
Create
a profit center by selling advertising space to third parties.
Your Internet site can be a source of new revenue by selling ad
space to third parties. In the case of the Travel Industry, this
could mean: tour operators, car rental companies, hotels, cruise
lines, etc.
Q.
How does the Internet compare to traditional advertising and
marketing?
1. It
is more expansive, yet far less expensive.
Consider a typical print ad in a newspaper advertising a vacation
package to Rio de Janeiro: It may include the price of the tour, a
two or three line description of the tourist attractions, phone
numbers for the airline and tour operator and maybe a small black
and white graphic. The same ad on the Internet can include all of
the above plus the following: several pages of descriptive
information on the hotels used, flight schedules, site seeing
tours, prices and more.
There can be several full color graphics of beaches, cities, and
mountains. There can be built in "links" to other places
on the Internet with information about things to see and do in
Brazil. A comparable amount of ad space in a newspaper would cost
many times more than the price of having a presence on the Web.
The Internet allows you to make a vast amount of information
readily available and easily accessible to your customers.
2. It
is interactive, not passive.
Traditional forms of advertising are passive; you listen to a
radio ad or read a newspaper ad without interacting in anyway with
the content of the advertisement. The Internet allows for the
customer to be directly involved in the flow of information. The
user is in control of what he or she sees. In addition, your site
can be configured to immediately provide customized information
based on a users input.
For example, a form can be presented to the user when they first
come to your site asking them what their interests are. The form
may ask: what destinations are you interested in? When would you
like to travel? What is your price range? In response, the user
may answer: Rio de Janeiro, October, less than $1,200. Based on
those responses the user would be presented with a list of
vacation packages to Rio in October for less than $1,200.
No other media allows for this type of dynamic, customized
marketing and advertising. Only the Internet provides you with
this very powerful means of reaching your customer base.
3. It is global,
not local.
The Internet can be accessed from over 210 countries and more than
332 million people. To reach the
same amount of people by a television commercial would be
astronomically expensive. To do so by newspapers, magazines, or
direct mail would be a logistical nightmare. On the Internet
however, your marketing message is available to someone in New
York City as well as Moscow, Russia and Tokyo, or Japan. Go to our world
map of coverage areas.
4. It is a
permanent presence, not a brief "blurb."
Your Internet site is active 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It
is always there for your customers to access. A radio spot or
television commercial is over in 60 seconds, a print ad is usually
set aside after it is read. The material in a Web site can be
reached by a customer whenever he or she desires. It is not
limited to certain days of the week or hours of the day.
Your Web site is permanent presence for you company; giving
customers important facts, answering their questions, and creating
an interest in your products and services. It is a sales
person/marketing department that never sleeps.
Q.
How much does it cost to establish a presence on the Internet?
Getting a worldwide
presence on the Internet doesn't have to break your budget. We
have several inexpensive and cost effective solutions to get your
company on the Web quickly and easily. Please stop by our FAQ
section about costs.
Q.
How can I develop or increase my Web site visitors and make
certain my Web site is spidered by all the search engines?
After
we design your Web site we can also create a promotional plan to
create traffic and customers from your Web site. Our services
could include broadcasting your URL(uniform resource locator, or
simply your Web site address) to all the search engines and
directories, formulating targeted marketing strategies or developing
networking partnerships. Your Web site is not going to help you grow your
business unless people that are searching for your products or
services can find your information.
We can
also examine your existing Web site and help you market and
develop your business on
the internet. We'll create an online marketing
plan customized to your business needs.
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